White House Offers New Reform Proposal

Would keep popular elements of the ACA but make them optional for states

WASHINGTON -- The White House is trying to revive its healthcare reform push with a new bill that would include popular provisions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but also allow states to opt out of them.

In a closed-door meeting on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney laid the plan before members of the House Freedom Caucus, whose refusal to support the American Health Care Act (AHCA) led to its demise.

Caucus chair Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told reporters the plan was a "solid idea," according to The Washington Post.

The Freedom Caucus is comprised of nearly three dozen members, many of whom opposed the AHCA, developed by House Republican leaders including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), on the grounds that it was simply another entitlement program, nicknaming the bill "Obamacare Lite."

The proposal would also allow states to opt out of the mandate that all insurers offer "essential health benefits" including treatment for mental health problems or substance use disorders, disease screenings, and contraception, noted The Washington Post.

With the new proposal -- full text of which is expected later today -- the White House appears to be seeking a middle ground between the Freedom Caucus and moderates who objected to full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA's essential-benefits mandate and its pre-existing condition protections remain highly popular with voters; but fiscal conservatives argue that their provisions are making insurance unaffordable.

White House officials also met with the House Tuesday Group, a more moderate arm of the Republican party, a GOP aide told the Associated Press.

Monday's meetings followed a storm of tweets from President Trump last week, who blamed the Freedom Caucus for killing the AHCA. "The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican Agenda if they don't get on the team & fast. We must fight them, & Dems in 2018," wrote Trump on March 30, alluding to the 2018 congressional elections.